Regulations on the conversion of wet rice land into non-agricultural land in Vietnam

Conditions for converting from paddy land to annual crops
Conditions for converting from paddy land to annual crops (Image from the Internet)

1. Paddy land and land for cultivation of perennial trees are agricultural land

According to Article 10 of the Land Law 2013, agricultural land includes:

- Land for cultivation of annual crops, including paddy land and land for cultivation of other annual crops;

- Land for cultivation of perennial trees;

- Land for production forests;

- Land for protection forests;

- Land for special-use forests;

- Land for aquaculture;

- Land for salt production;

- Other agricultural land, including land used to build greenhouses and other building types for cultivation purpose, including fanning not directly on the land, or to build breeding facilities for cattle, poultry and other animals as permitted by law;

Land for cultivation, breeding and aquaculture for the purpose of learning, research or experimentation;

Land for planting and nursing seedlings and breeders, and land for growing flowers and ornamental plants.

2. Regulations on the conversion of wet rice land into non-agricultural land in Vietnam

Article 5 of the Decree 35/2015/ND-CP stipulates the conversion of wet rice land into non-agricultural land as follows:

- Persons who have land allocated or rented out by the state to use for non-agricultural purpose from wet rice land must exercise regulations of the Law on Land and pay an amount of money for protection and development of paddy land.

- Depending on specific condition in the locality, People’s committees of provinces shall decide a specific amount that is not less than 50 per cent of the amount determined by multiplying the area of wet rice land subject to conversion into non-agricultural land by the price of paddy land according to the price list at the date of conversion.

- Persons who have land allocated or rented out by the state must make the declaration of the amount to be paid in proportion to the area of paddy rice land allocated, rented out by the state and transfer it to provincial state budget as regulated.

3. Regulations on expenses for the protection and development of paddy land in Vietnam

Article 2 of Circular 18/2016/TT-BTC stipulates the collection of money for the protection and development of rice land as follows:

- Agencies, organizations, households, and individuals that are allocated or leased land by the State for non-agricultural purposes from paddy land must pay a sum of money for the protection and development of the rice land.

- The Department of Finance shall assume primary responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant departments, branches, and units, based on specific local conditions, to report to the provincial People's Committee in order to submit a resolution on the collection of insurance premiums to the People's Council at the same level.To protect and develop rice land in the locality, on that basis, the People's Committee of the province shall promulgate the rate of collection for the protection and development of rice land in the locality for each locality according to the calculation formula specified in Clause 1 of this Article. 3 Article 2 of Circular 18/2016/TT-BTC.

- Amount of money set aside for rice land preservation and development.

Fees for rice land protection and development = percentage (%) of area (x) and price (x) of rice land.

Inside:

+ The percentage (%) determining the amount of money collected for rice land protection and development issued by the province's People's Committee in accordance with the specific conditions of each locality, but not less than 50%;

+ Area is the area of paddy land to be converted to non-agricultural land, specifically stated in the competent agency's decision permitting the change of paddy land to non-agricultural land;

+ The price of rice land is calculated according to the land price list that is being applied at the time of a change of land use purpose issued by the provincial People's Committee.

- Agencies, organizations, households, and individuals that are allocated or leased land by the state are responsible for declaring the payable amount for the protection and development of rice land, corresponding to the area of paddy land assigned or leased by the state.

- Finance agencies, based on the declarations of land-using agencies, organizations, households, and individuals, determine and organize the collection of money for the protection and development of paddy land and remit it to the provincial budget. accounting for the table of contents of other revenues, subsection 4914.

- Provincial-level people's committees shall prescribe the time limit for payment of money for protection and development of rice land for agencies, organizations, households, and individuals to implement.

Ngoc Nhi

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